


taste of sea or sweat

by OceanMyth



Series: Ocean's ATLA Drabbles, Oneshots, and Ficlets [26]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 's pretty cute y'all, F/F, Ficlet, Fluff, Short & Sweet, suki's freckles, swim race
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:29:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28763367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanMyth/pseuds/OceanMyth
Summary: Suki challenges Katara to a swim race. This is what happens after.
Relationships: Katara/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (past)
Series: Ocean's ATLA Drabbles, Oneshots, and Ficlets [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113209
Comments: 13
Kudos: 35





	taste of sea or sweat

Katara isn’t sure how she got here, floating on her back a good mile out in the ocean. Hair fanning out around her, hair tangling with Suki’s— like their hands could be, if she could muster up the courage—as they watch the clouds and bob with the waves. The sun comes out from behind the clouds then, and Katara closes her eyes and rolls upright, treading water while she blinks away the spots from the sun.

“Remind me why you thought this was a good idea again?” Katara asks, unable to bear the silence any longer.

“I grew up on the sea,” Suki says. “I thought I could take you.” She doesn’t show her teeth when she grins, but the curve of her lips reminds Katara of red on white anyway. The splash of the waves have left droplets of water on Suki’s shoulder, that gleam among the dark freckles and tan skin. Katara licks her lips.

The taste of salt lingers on her tongue, but whether it’s from the spray of the sea or the sweat from the swim, she’s not sure.

“But you should have known better than to start a swim race against a waterbender,” Katara throws back. “I always thought you were the smart one, when you and Sokka were together. Guess I was wrong.”

  
  
“Well, I did make one smart decision,” Suki says softly, and there’s a strong arm around Katara’s waist. She knows that Suki is probably just using her to keep herself afloat without having to work as hard, but when she’s this close, she can’t bring herself to mind.

“And what’s that?” Katara asks, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair stuck to Suki’s forehead behind her ear. She’s careful not to catch her hand on the earrings that Suki hadn’t bothered to take out before their unplanned swim. Her hands are shaking just a little, when she drops them back into the water. She doesn’t know where to put them, and before she knows it, one of her hands is tangled with the one of Suki’s currently not wrapped around her waist.

Katara swallows. She’s done what she promised herself she wouldn’t do, she’s let all of her hope and heart pool into her hands, and if Suki doesn’t say what Katara is praying for, she will dissolve into sea-foam and be forever lost.

“When I chose you,” Suki says finally, after a long moment where the only thing they can hear is the cry of a lonely gull, searching for something high in the clouds.

  
  
Suki’s hands are holding hers now, and the two of them are leaning together now, and she’s wanted this for so much longer than she’s let herself think about. Maybe since before Suki had ended things with Sokka, maybe since they first met and Katara had first watched her fight.

Suki’s lips taste like salt too, when she finally presses against them, and they are warmer than the cold ocean and just a little chapped from the wind.

“Did you really think you had to challenge me to a race for that?” Katara asks wryly, when they separate, breathing heavy. Suki leans forwards and kisses her again.

“Not anymore.”

**Author's Note:**

> petty revenge is sometimes both sweet and gay.


End file.
